I've spec'd a an E8400 based system and have questions... :)

[Poet]

Okay, so I haven't got a million bux, but this is an upgrade from my OC'd XP1700+/512Mb RAM, so it's long overdue.

E8400
Gigabyte GA-X38-DS4
8800GT PCIe
2gig 1066 RAM
Creative SB X-Fi 7.1 (PCIe)
2 WD Caviar 250g SATA
Corsair HX520

I use it mostly for photoshopping, games and the usual internetty stuff.
Now I don't plan on overclocking this (at the moment anyway), and I'm looking for a relatively quiet system. I have no need of a second gfx card either. I also plan to wait a few months until the 1333Mhz RAM comes down in price so I can plug that in. For now the 1066 is fine for the sake of cost.

So my questions are:

1. My biggest question is this; Are there any known compatibility issues with these items? Will there be any restrictions on the system or will it function with all the features the components list? I'm not buying bleeding edge because I like to see all the kinks worked out first.
   
2. Is the retail fan on the E8400 very loud? Would I be better off replacing it with a larger/slower/quieter fan?
   
3. I see in another thread that the Corsair PSU should provide enough juice for this setup. If I do end up mildly overclocking it in the future, will it still be enough?
   
4. I'm assuming that in a few months, when the cost of the 1333mhz RAM comes down, I can just straight swap (along with any needed BIOS adjustments) the new RAM in to get the performance boost?
   
5. Will I need to upgrade to a 64bit OS (XP64) for this setup or will XP Home still be okay? I'm assuming I'd only need XP64 if I plug in 4Gb of RAM.
   
6. I've chosen to go for an 8800GT due to performance/cost, but are there any particularly good choices as regards brand? In the stickies it recommends to get one with a lower clock speed and clock it up to the higher speeds of the more costly brands. Is this a good idea?
   
7. I've gone for two physical drives so I can stick my pagefile on a drive other than the OS/Apps/games drives. Is this still a good measure?

Thanks ever-so for any help.

 

[Hobgoblin]

1. not that i know off
2. depends on the rest of your system i guess, i replaced it with a freezer pro, cheap and affective and cant be heard.
3. yes, im running spec in sig on a 535W enermax and its fine
4. yep no major problems
5.no need to upgrade to 64bit for that rig no, and if you were i would recommend vista64,not XP. better support.
6.generally. also look for warrenty. EVGA and BFG are all in europe and thus should be quicker RMA'ing. + OCuk's own brand.
7.yep a nice measure, just dont forget its on there.